Present your case

If there’s a locomotive that you think needs to be offered ready-to-run, here’s the place to voice your opinion…

The place to voice your opinions on potential new models.

The electrification of the West Coast Main Line required not only a new generation of electric locomotives for express and long-distance freight work but also a new generation of Electric Multiple Units (EMU) to take on suburban passenger duties. Wolverton Works built 45 four-car ‘AM4’ sets, with the first being delivered in 1960. They might have looked like typical Mk 1-based EMUS from the side – small windows flanking doors – but they had a stylish new nose, rather than the flat fronts of, say, their Southern Region counterparts. The nose was a result of the BR styling panel and it found its way onto other EMUS. Becoming Class 304 on TOPS, these EMUS were primarily used around Greater Manchester, Liverpool and Crewe, and on Birmingham-rugby-northampton duties. They occasionally visited London Euston and ventured as far north as Preston, but they did get used on the Eastern Region’s Liverpool Street-shenfield route while its regular units were being rebuilt. Members of the class which, in their later years, became known as ‘Dinosaurs’, were not withdrawn until 1996.

What would make it viable?

The ‘304’ shared the same underframe and a good proportion of body panels with the Class 305 and 308 AC EMUS and the Class 504 DC EMUS, thus spawning a new family of EMUS. They were unusual in that they received green with yellow lining livery. The ‘304s’ also received blue and blue/grey, and even Regional Railways liveries.

Can I see a real one?

A tragic tale: 304021 was preserved in 1998 but, having suffered from vandalism and a lack of support, it was scrapped in 2000.

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